How much is too much for a photographer?

That is a tough answer as people prioritise different things. For me it would obviously be important at my wedding and the Photographers I absolutely love charge about £2000+. I think it's a personal thing and down to personal taste.

Regarding your SIL, it would be very hard for her to enjoy the wedding and shoot it at the same time, unless you weren't too bothered about extensive coverage. The parts where the guests socialise would be the time the Photographer would get candids of them laughing together for example where she might want to be joining in with the family at this point.

My Brother asked me to be a Bridesmaid and shoot the wedding. I said I could only do one and there was no way I could shoot a wedding in heels and a bridesmaids dress ?

HTH.

Hi

I would like an answer to this too.....I have seen lots and they are all around the 1200 mark so far....This does not include many photos either! xxx

Hi I am a photographer (studio mainly) my boss is a very successful wedding photographer & I can honestly say this is not the place to save on. We all spend on a beautiful dress. Cake, venue etc that can all be made too look pretty average by an average photographer. When we are old and grey & sharing our happy memories with the grandkids the dress won't fit the flowers are long gone but the pictures will remain in your family's possession forever. It's all we have left (obviously the hubby too) and a good photographer will capture things even you miss

My opinion is you really do get what you pay for with photographers and if you splurge on this it will make your full wedding look WOW

Good luck & have a lovely day xxxx

It kind of depends what you want really. If you're looking for full day coverage from an experienced professional with all the right paperwork in place (insurance etc) you're generally looking around the £1000+ mark for disc/supply only. Photographers with more experience or who are in more demand will often be more than this.

You can get good, reliable photographers for well below £1000 and not-that-great ones for double that, so try not to be too guided by price (I know that's easier said than done where budgets are concerned) it's just that they tend to be fewer and further between.

As DW said, it will depend on priorities as to how much you'll actually spend. Photography was the most important thing to us really so we'd have paid whatever it took (within reason of course!) or shuffled the budget around to have someone who we felt was perfect for us. Whereas I have family members who feel that a photo is a photo is a photo and would resent paying someone at all.

Speaking as a photographer though, there's no way I could shoot the wedding of a friend or family member and still enjoy the day in the same way that a guest would- we'd miss too much and forever be on edge in case we were missing something we *should* be getting. We'd not be able to have a drink (alcoholic) and things like speeches would be missed or not enjoyed fully as we'd be shooting- which is a shame. The work head goes on as soon as soon as there's a camera in my hand!

I think it's wise to hire in a professional if you can, if only for the fact that it's a lot of pressure on your sister in law and a day long committment. Even the best photographers can flounder when it comes to wedding photography.

How many are they offering?

Hi!

We originally considered asking OH's brother to shoot our wedding but decided against it for exactly those reasons. We wanted him to be a guest and enjoy the wedding rather than be a fly on the wall. However if she has offered without you asking then it might be worth talking to her and sharing your concerns and seeing what she says. Perhaps she could still bring her camera and take some photos but you could hire a professional for the must have shots, this could keep your costs down.

Photography was very important to me so when I saw our Togs work I knew I would have her regardless of what she cost (double my original budget but I am sure she will be worth every penny!) I just intend to cut back on other things that aren't as important to me, such as the cake and flowers.

Good luck ?

The pros have given some good info here.....basically price is not a guarantee of the photogrsphy you may like, so choose based on what you see and not what they claim is their style genre...9many claim reportage although don't display this on their websites...its a buzz word...not important...you liking their style is though....

Peter

I can offer both sides of the coin on this.

Firstly, we're paying £1850 for our togs.

Second, I shot a wedding for a friend a few weeks ago. Never again. The wedding was lovely, it was great to be doing a service for some friends and whilst I was paid a fee and delivered great images I felt that I should of been enjoying the day with them rather than being a supplier. Even after I downed tools I couldn't get into the spirit of things which was a shame.

Sometimes you should leave work behind. I should of done so in this case.

I strongly advise against friends shooting the wedding unless it's a) free and b) the expectations are low.

Because it can ruin friendships. Yet, there are many success stories that can be told there are also ones of regret.

Unless they're actually a professional wedding photographer who shoots many weddings a year, then being a great photographer might not be enough to deliver the required standards on the day. Which could cause problems.

1200 for bridal prep to first dance and a disc. That is it. Reasonable??? xx

Bubbles, If you love their work then I think that's reasonable but it would be completely dependable on their photos. How many images would that include as I think your concern was with this wasn't it?

I spent a lot of time looking at photographers and we've ended up with my favourite. Luckily for us she wasn't anywhere near the most expensive either at £800 for the full day from a couple of hours before the ceremony through until the last dance.

ETA (that should give us around 600-1000 pictures on disc)

10k+ is reasonable if you think the photography is exceptional, as long as you have the budget of course.

Imo wedding togs are not a one size fit's all thing, as we all prioritise different things and have different budgets.

Some prioritise 'value', so will look for the cheaper togs, or togs that includer allot of extra's in their packages as the quantity is thought good value. Photography isn't a big deal to everyone, so they prefer to splash out elsewhere.

Others will prioritise the 'quality' of the pictures. They tend to shop more with their heart and look for togs who's work they love. However these shoppers need to be careful they don't overstretch their budget, or instead make cut backs elsewhere.

At the end of the day, it's all about priorities as to what % of budget you allocate to different vendors.

It is minimum 400 images. I am going to ask to review a whole wedding but do photographers only show the best photos? I want to see what they can actually do. What questions would you ask the photographer? xx

10% of the total wedding cost has always been the best guide and has been for as long as I can remember. Be that £500 or £3000.

The wide average total wedding cost is £8000-£15000, the mainstream togs prices are £800-£1500 coincidentally. (Image supply only).

I think anything is only worth what you are prepared to pay for it.

I love photography (not taking photos but looking at them) and I adore our photographer he is my absolute favorite. He is £2200 Disc only 8 hours I would have paid more for him.

I think 400 is considered plenty but it depends if there is allot of duplication.

For instance, some togs will provide 5 pictures that are almost the same, rather than just picking the best one.

This inflates the numbers. I offer 300 pictures, but they are all different, and show a different aspect of the day.

I would look to see at least 100+ images from a single wedding. Yes photographers only want to show their best work, but 100+ pictures should give you an idea of consistency.

Thank you. I want to love the pics and I am willing to pay for it but I just need to find the photographer. Will go to a few meetings and ask to see lots of their work first. :-)

I'd say that's about an average amount and plenty to cover the day. Great idea to ask to see a full wedding and they shouldn't be worried about showing you one. I can send you the password to one of mine if you wanted to see how one looks from start to finish? It would be the exact photos that the couple receive.

400 is fine

So if they are offering 400 then you need to see a 400 wedding as if you only see 100 then you are only seeing 1/4 of what the bride and groom got and that can be very easiy to filter out the not so good ones. When you are 1st looking 100 is a good amount to see if you want to look into that photographer a little bit more.

That would be great - thank you :-)

While it's important to be able to judge consistency, I wouldn't get too extreme. Viewing 400+ pictures at a meeting can be a little long winded and possibly get in the way of the flow of conversation.

Lot's of togs post near full examples of weddings on their blogs anyway, so often the meetings will be about seeing if you click with the tog or not.

I agree with this. You can look at so much in the comfort of your home. Do all the research you can and then narrow it down to your favourites from there. You will know when you find the one.

Agree with others here in getting a friend/family member to do it - I have a family member who is a wedding photographer and offered to do our wedding for us but I said no - I wanted them in the photos and I wanted them to enjoy our day without having to think about anything else and I also wanted to be able to feel sure I'm going to get the photos I want without thinking 'why are they talking to Aunty M when they should be getting guest shots' etc)

To go slightly off topic, can I also just say all you TOGs on here are awesome!! You give such good and helpful advice to everyone asking and a similar thread to this really helped me when I was looking for a TOG so thanks very much!!!

That is such a sweet thing to say!

We researched a LOT and it came good in the end. They gave us an excellent price for pre ceremony to first dance and we LOVE their photography!

I don't know if you are in the east Anglia area but if you are let me know and I will let you know their details.

This is very kind - thank you.

I still say if your package is 400 500 1000 then that is what you need to see and not just somthing that is already edited to show the best 100 of 500. But yes not at your meet you need to do it online in the comfort of your own home. And if they wont show you (online ) a whole wedding ---why not?

Intrigued to know who your tog is funky. I also like to look at work from exceptional tog's! ?

I tried shooting a friend's wedding as a side favour once, it didn't work out, I didn't get to do anything as a guest and I notably did not get to eat enough scrummy food Now I refuse to "back up" shoot for friends unless hired in a professional capacity because sometimes, even togs wanna party when a guest at a wedding :p

In terms of pricing etc. for context, I charge £895 and provide minimum 400 photos but realistically more depending on the size of the wedding party and number of venues etc. and actually for me it depends on how active and dynamic people are i.e. if there's more fun and action to photograph then it happens. I'm largely documentary so I don't have a set list to photos in my head that I take, I obviously cover the essentials, but on top of that my only aim is to capture the essence of the day so that the couple should be able to tell a story from their photos, whether that be 400 or 600 it doesn't matter. Hope that helps and g'luck with the search!

I met a photographer at a wedding fair... He charges 1500 for Pre wedding-last dance his package also includes a large album and two smaller version of large album. His photos do look amazing but there is it much to see on his website.
After reading through this thread I'm feeling slightly anxious now, if possible can someone in the know (a TOG) check out the site for me if I PM you the link and share your thoughts on the package.
I'm now thinking its way too cheap so something must be lacking somewhere.
Other photographers I've looked up are charging 1500 just for shooting the day and images on disk plus a further £300-£500 for albums..

Is it possible that it was a wedding fair only deal Pinkbutterfly?

Some togs (& other providers) do promotions or special offers for wedding fairs to attract more bookings.

£1500 isn't so low that i'm instantly suspicious- especially considering that if the smaller albums are just duplicates of the larger album, then they are likely to be available to the photographer at a discounted rate from the album company, so although it looks like a really good deal, it wont be costing him as much as if you were ordering 3 stand alone albums, if that makes sense? They also wont need to design 3 separate albums- just one (and it's usually the design time that bumps album costs up)

I'm more than happy to take a look if you want to send over details, but i'll be heading off to bed soon so might not be able to check things out and get back to you until the morning ?

When you add albums in those albums could be costing them £150 or £500 to buy in. Once you take them out of the equation then the price sounds fine.